Miss Mouse has been hanging on my tree since 1967. Her Santa outfit is made of paper and I have colored it with red markers periodically over 40 years. The ornament behind her is glass and belonged to my Hungarian grandmother. They have both (and others like them) been a part of my life for a very long time. Every Christmas a new one joins the others on this "tree of life." Each one cherished. Marked with the date and giver, carefully wrapped and unwrapped every year. Clearly one of the joys of Christmas for me.

But since moving into this house in CT and not having much room for a tree - I have not taken out these ornaments five Christmases. We've done with smaller trees and dressed them with red balls tied on with red ribbons. They were lovely to look at, and easy to dress and if the new kitten knocked anything off it wasn't a great loss. Everyone complimented the tree but something was lacking...

This year we went to our usual place for a Christmas tree, the Gilbert's tree farm (parents of Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat Pray Love fame). It's also the place where we get our wonderful local honey. This year the tree was just a little bigger.

We put the lights on the tree and went looking for the red balls. They were nowhere to be found. Christmas Eve was fast approaching and reluctantly I gave up the search and dusted off the one of the "old" Christmas boxes that has been patiently waiting in a corner of the basement.

And there in the first box, right on top, peaking out of her tissue paper was Miss Mouse. It was so good to see her! It was like an old friend had come to visit. I danced her around the living room and then placed her in a prominent spot so that I could see her from any seat in the room. I unpacked other old friends and placed them on the tree. Each one evoked another Christmas another time. Each ornament brought another smile to my face.

This is what I had missed, this is what the red tree lacked, friends. Memories. History. One of my friends asked me in an email "what fabulous thing did you get for Christmas?" Well, now I know... I got a visit from a very special mouse.